Earthbound is the game that made me a gamer, as opposed to a guy that "liked Mario as a kid". I had never before been immersed into a game like I was when I brought Earthbound home as a kid. Best blind buy of my life, all to the big box and strategy guide being included. It is the only game that I would say tops Shenmue for me, mostly because I played it first as a kid, but since I finally got to see that series end with Mother 3, Shenmue might be #1 now, just because the mythical Shenmue III has been my holy grail of gaming for so long now.
Shenmue is the last game that totally blew me away. Part of that is due to being older, and video games no longer having that sort of effect on my life anymore, the other is that we've delved so far into 3D gaming that the sheer "wow" factor from generation to generation is not there anymore. That doesn't mean there aren't incredible games on consoles every year, but the jump from SNES -> n64, or even from n64/PSX to DC/Xbox/PS2 just isn't replicated anymore. I feel like every generation from the PS2 on has just been more gradual or incremental changes, your eyeballs don't pop out of your head anymore when you boot something up.
Honorable mentions as far as lasting gaming experiences for me would be: Fallout 2 (3/NV), Metal Gear Solid, GTA3. But they pale in comparison to the feeling after finishing Earthbound and Shenmue (well, Shenmue II as well, I guess). I would actually say the experience of GTA 3 was almost as mindblowing as Shenmue as far as being so deeply immersed in a game and its world.
Shenmue is the last game that totally blew me away. Part of that is due to being older, and video games no longer having that sort of effect on my life anymore, the other is that we've delved so far into 3D gaming that the sheer "wow" factor from generation to generation is not there anymore. That doesn't mean there aren't incredible games on consoles every year, but the jump from SNES -> n64, or even from n64/PSX to DC/Xbox/PS2 just isn't replicated anymore. I feel like every generation from the PS2 on has just been more gradual or incremental changes, your eyeballs don't pop out of your head anymore when you boot something up.
Honorable mentions as far as lasting gaming experiences for me would be: Fallout 2 (3/NV), Metal Gear Solid, GTA3. But they pale in comparison to the feeling after finishing Earthbound and Shenmue (well, Shenmue II as well, I guess). I would actually say the experience of GTA 3 was almost as mindblowing as Shenmue as far as being so deeply immersed in a game and its world.
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